daughter turned 2. putting a guitar in her hands tomorrow....also :kids who rock....thoughts pls

so my daughter turned 2 on wednesday. party tomorrow. one of the things we got is a kids size mickey mouse guitar(she loves mickey).
4 nylon strings.
i really want her to be into music so i figured if she had a guitar around she would get interested. you know, plucking, making sounds...

if she is not into it then oh well. im not gonna force her but i am certainly going to give her the nudge. i tried with my son when he was about 12. he played for about a year but it wasnt his bag.
i figure if after the next year, maybe 2 if she still seems interested i will get her a real guitar/amp setup.

my wife and i are always listening to music. more so than tv so my daughter has heard a full range of styles from me listening to alan holdsworth to the next song being the buzzcocks(wife likes it)...
our musical rotation pretty much covers everything. its funny cause we will shuffle through and you will hear leadbelly, then paul gilbert, then adele, then woody guthrie.....

anyway, my plan is to get her interested and if she really does seem like she wants to do it then start teaching her the basic fundamentals. from there just see how far she wants to take it.
even if its not guitar. any instrument you know.........

to the point of kids who rock. have you ever heard or seen this little girl called li-sa-x?


she is amazing and she is 8 years old. it is unreal. i cant imagine being able to do things like this at 8 years old.





do any of you have kids? when did you put an instrument in their hands? how old were you when you started playing?

of course i want my daughter to be happy in this life. i want her to do what she wants. mow that said, every parent does have their own idea of what they would like their kids to do.
aside from the 'dream' of my daughter being a mathematician, i would lose my mind if she told me she was going to juliard, or oberlin conservatory(which is by my house and we pass all the time).....

you know

let her decide on what she wants. simple at 2 years old let her be 2 and enjoy it, by all means add the gutair to the toy box, but my self that is all i would do.

My daughter is extremely intelligent "her mothers side" it was picked up at the age of 4, she was tested blah blah blah then it come down to a choice do we accelerate her learning or let her be her self, we chose the later, and now she is 18 and on her way to Med school. Her dreams her choices not one thing in her life was forced.

introduce and encourage but do not push.it's a wonderful thing to encourage your children to explore their options.

I agree it's important to start them early, but it's also important to not push too hard or they will regress or even revolt later on. My daughter is almost 8 now and I've had her try everything at least once. She took to drawing, painting and building the strongest (just like me), so I bought many things art and craft related to expose her to more idea.
Another great helper are books and museums. Luckily we live 10 minutes from Manhattan so we hit all the local spots often, which are second to none in NYC.
Have you looked into the computer/console assisted learning tools associated with the guitar? I hear they are great for wanting to learn quick. It's like guitar hero except with a real guitar, might be an item of interest if she takes to it.
I remember those days, I wish I could go back, I ultimately became an accomplished singer and still to this day can't read music correctly. Funny now that I think of it, I hated music class in High school.

Good Luck!

Timed out so I have to write again

The way I done it is I put a keyboard in my kids room and showed them how to turn it on and get different sounds, but I let them figure it out themselves. Let them get used to it. Then, I started training them. Now, my two little boys play a lot. They sit and make up songs and sing. They show great signs of creativity. But after the keyboard, I then put a guitar in their room. I let them get used to it for about a month. Then, I started teaching. They can play most chords. Next, mandolin, fiddle/violin with the same concept.

My daughter, who is now 15, -I done the same thing. At 10, she was playing a complicated piece of music on keyboard and she learned it by ear. I was blown away. I then bought her one of those instructional keyboards with the light-up keys, and she used it, but still prefers to learn by ear. I can't read music so I never taught them how, but I would rather them play by ear and memory anyways.

I know many people will disagree and want to train them the "proper way" from the start, but this is what worked for me and my kids. hope this helps.

Oh, and that little girl in the vid is awesome.

a reply to: CardiffGiant

I have kids. I did the same thing. They pretend play rock band, and sing songs like "let it go" almost everyday now.

My only advice is to simply encourage, not force. It is ultimately their choice to continue or not.

originally posted by: Fylgje
Timed out so I have to write again

The way I done it is I put a keyboard in my kids room and showed them how to turn it on and get different sounds, but I let them figure it out themselves. Let them get used to it. Then, I started training them. Now, my two little boys play a lot. They sit and make up songs and sing. They show great signs of creativity. But after the keyboard, I then put a guitar in their room. I let them get used to it for about a month. Then, I started teaching. They can play most chords. Next, mandolin, fiddle/violin with the same concept.

.

that was how i planned on it too. this is just a small 'toy' guitar but she is only two. i figured if she was used to seeing it then she will want to pick it up to make sounds. as much as there is music playing in this house im hoping she puts it together you know.
let her just pluck at it and make her own noises. tell her how awesome she is.

i wasnt going to start actually teaching her mechanics or anything for a couple years, IF she seems interested.

not going to force anything. just give a nudge. thats what i did with my boy but he lost interest so i left it alone.

First Time i heard this was around 1982-83 and P.Gilbert shocked me back then with his technikes and skills
And now a 2-3 year old plays my ass of. aaahhh!!!. BTW since 2003 i can't play guitar anyway. My left hand Medianus Nerv is completely damaged. They tried to"repair" but it didn't work out. But i'm really extremely impressed by this little kid. a reply to: CardiffGiant

I think its a wonderful idea. And even making guitars the right size for her hands, from kits online.

I noticed youtube has a lot of really nice lessons, riffs, and things that can be taught as well.

For example, an electric guitar kit, for small hands, its already soft to push the strings, not like an accoustic. So I'd go with that.

Don't stop at a guitar, give her all kinds of instruments and she'll find her fit (just hope it's not drums)
Expose her to different kinds of music as well, kids get super creative when you let them just go at it

a reply to: CardiffGiant

Im all for it, but your approach concerns me. You want her to...but perhaps she'll be a painter when she grows up. Or poet? If you want to EXPOSE her to learning music? Put a variety of instruments all around her and leave them there. A songflute. A tiny piano. A guitar (or small uke).

Im sure thats a great way to see what she may...or may NOT...gravitate to. And when and if she ever does choose music? Support her all the way.

PS Ive been a guitar player all my life, and there are photos of me at 1 1/2 (one and a half) with a tiny white one octave piano in the background! (yes, Ive also played keys just as long as guitar-over 50 years)

Good luck! Support, support, support. Whichever way it goes!